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Timeless derogatory surfing term, generally applied to rank beginners, but also used for any surfer thought to be in violation of surfing's complex unwritten code of conduct; a world champion paddling out to a surf break for the first time and dropping in on a local, for example, would be shouted down as a "kook."

The word "kook" is not a surfy adaptation of "cuckoo" or "kooky," but a play on the Hawaiian word "kukae," which means "shit." According to World War II-era surfer Dorian Paskowitz...